“Healthy” Foods to Avoid

When I give a presentation on “Environmentally Friendlier Shopping,” I always warn people that marketers love to use vague words like environmentally-friendly, natural and green. To be sure you’re truly buying an environmentally-friendly product, you need to arm yourself with a little knowledge and read the label. The same is true with so-called “healthy” foods.

This article explains why nine foods often perceived to be healthy aren’t really the best choices. In my 16 months with a nutritional counselor, I learned a lot, both directly from her and through experience. Two of these foods especially stand out for me:

100-Calorie packs: Before Traci, I was the”queen of 100-calorie pack.” I’d have at least one box for every weakness I had: cookies, candy, salty snacks. What I didn’t realize is that 1) they are not satisfying and in fact can leave you hungrier than you were before you ate them; and 2) just because they are only 100 calories doesn’t mean they’re healthy.

Salads: I’ve long had an aversion to vegetables, and salads were something I had to learn to eat. (Truth is, I’m still learning.) I’ve always thought salads were automatically a healthier option until I started looking up nutritional information. In Denver, I went out to dinner and ordered a salad. It wasn’t until I got back to the hotel that I found out how high the salad was in calories, fat and sodium. Turns out I could’ve had the personal-sized pizza on the menu and done better nutritionally.

Check out the list. Did anything surprise you? Have you ever had an experience similar to the one I had with the salad, either with a food on the list or another food? What food was it, and what did you learn?